What Kind of Ace am I?
by elliot the nerd
Summary: a relatively ooc story about sad Iwa-chan and Oikawa cheering him up by being sappy lmao


Oikawa had seen Iwaizumi upset many times; it wasn't too horribly rare. Iwaizumi had had bad days; he had gotten bad grades that put him in a grumpy mood; he had cried due to the overwhelming stress of keeping school up and volleyball. He had been upset before. He had cried before-the quiet, stressed-out, strangled tears that he tried to stifle and hide; the tears that escaped slowly, and was followed by sniffling and a small series of hiccups. Iwaizumi Hajime had cried before.

Iwaizumi had definitely cried before, and Oikawa had seen it. However, only a select few other than Oikawa had seen the ace of Seijou cry. Iwaizumi was the type of person who put most of hiws feelings fairly out in the open-except, of course, his sadness. He tended to hold tears in until he was alone, or with Oikawa-someone he was very close to.

Iwaizumi did not like to cry in front of people. Not really because it made him seem weak, no, of course not, but because he wanted to be a good example, and he wanted to be positive. He didn't want to be remembered for his tears. He was the ace, and he tried to keep the team positive and energetic-and he was good at it, really. He was great at motivation, and he kept the team's spirits up.

Which is why it absolutely broke Oikawa's heart to see tears falling from his best friend's eyes, fists clenched tight, shoulders shaking, struggling to keep his breathing even.

The team seemed shocked as well, but it was mostly blanketed by the grief of their loss. Oikawa had felt empty as the ball hit the court-not much emotion, but now, as he watched Iwaizumi, tears flowing from his eyes at a pace even he hadn't seen before, he felt his heart shatter.

Oikawa felt angry-at himself, and he felt like crying as well, but he knew that he couldn't. He had to be strong for the team; hold the tears back; cry when nobody else could see him. Like Iwaizumi, the captain did not like to express his sadness in front of anyone other than his best friend.

Oikawa slapped Iwaizumi on the back, hard, but not harshly, and grinned at him. His jaw was clenched uncomfortably, but it was a grin nonetheless.

Iwaizumi looked at him, eyes full of emotion-anger, sadness-yet empty, his shoulders trembling.

"What kind of ace am I?"

The words shocked Oikawa. Whispered, quietly, but not shyly, through clenched teeth.

What kind of ace am I?

And then he turned, and he walked away. It was time to line up. He left Oikawa standing there, dumbfounded.

Hours later, Oikawa and Iwaizumi sat on Oikawa's bed, not speaking to each other, and sitting in silence.

Oikawa sat, legs crossed, his back leaning against the wall as he looked up at his ceiling. It was littered with glow-in-the-dark stars that he and Iwaizumi had put up a few years ago, when he had gotten them for his birthday. The two boys had spent at least two hours getting the constellations right and in-proportion to one another.

Iwaizumi sat on the bed, next to Oikawa, his legs laid out straight in front of him. He looked at his hands as he messed with them, somewhat put-off by the silence.

It was Oikawa who finally broke the silence.

"Iwa-chan."

Iwaizumi flinched slightly.

"Iwaizumi." Oikawa paused again, turning his head so that he was looking directly at the ace. Said boy looked forwards; down at his hands, not bothering to look up.

"Hajime."

Iwaizumi flinched again, except this time, he actually looked up, and slowly turned his gaze over to Oikawa. He met the boy's eyes, and saw the seriousness in his exhausted, tired eyes. It made him feel slightly guilty.

Suddenly, the short-haired boy felt arms wrap around his waist, and he realized that Oikawa had moved closer, and was now moving to sit on his lap, hugging him tightly. He sat there numbly for a minute, and then slowly returned the embrace.

"You're the best-" Oikawa's voice cracked, and he buried his face into the crook of Iwaizumi's neck, "You're the best fucking ace I could have asked for, Hajime." He paused, sniffling slightly, "We lost, I know. I know we lost, but that is not completely on you."

Iwaizumi felt the tears rolling down his cheeks, and didn't try to stop them.

"We tried out hardest. We were an amazing team, we just made one more mistake than they did." Oikawa murmured, his voice beginning to tremble.

"I know." Iwaizumi whispered, his voice hoarse.

Oikawa pulled his face away to look Iwaizumi in the eyes. "I mean it. We did good. _You_ did good." He smiled weakly, leaning his forehead gently against Iwaizumi's.

Iwaizumi returned the weak smile, his lips trembling. Oikawa laughed lightly, pressing a quick kiss to Iwaizumi's cheek.

"We're not quitting volleyball after this, you know. There's college."

Iwaizumi nodded slowly, letting a small laugh escape his own lips.

"Yeah."

"And we'll win that time."

A small laugh from Iwaizumi, and he kissed the boy's forehead lightly.

"Yeah."


End file.
